ARE WE MILKING IT?

Laura Day investigates the growing trend to avoid dairy, plus the nutrition pros and cons of milk alternatives

GOING DAIRY FREE

IF YOU ASKED SOMEONE five years ago what type of milk they preferred, you’d have got a pretty straightforward answer: skimmed, semi or full fat– maybe soya at a push. Fast-forward to the present day though, and the answer is likely to be very different.

Cows are no longer the only providers of this staple. These days we’re buying alternatives to dairy made from many different sources: oats, rice, hemp, nuts – even peas. These ‘milks’ in various guises and varying shades of white/cream/beige are no longer a limited choice for the few. In fact, every year more of us are saying no to cow’s milk as trendy premium nut ‘mylks’ crop up in the nation’s health-crazed capital. So what’s changed?